It'll Always be Her
by H-Mira
Summary: After the quincy invasion, Hitsugaya and Matsumoto were sent to the world of the living in order to train the Kurosaki sisters in the shinigami arts. About six months after his arrival in the world of the living, Hitsugaya gets word that Hinamori will be paying him a visit on her day off. After seeing the two interact, Karin comes to a heart breaking realization... HitsuHina
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome to Chapter 1 of _I'll Always be Her_! **

**This is a short story I thought up a while ago and figured I should share it with the rest of the HitsuHina community.**

 **PS: While this story does have some one-sided HitsuKarin, the story is purely HitsuHina. So while it may seem more HitsuKarin like at first, it'll definetly have a HitsuHina ending. Also, since I'm not a fan of Karin bashing, I'm going to avoid that in my story.**

 **Please Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 1:

Anxious. If Karin had to describe the white haired captain sitting in class next to her in one word, it would be anxious. He had been like this ever since he abruptly left their training session a few days ago. Everything was perfectly fine and normal until then.

He had been training her in the shinigami arts for the last six months in the hopes of turning her into a substitute shinigami like her brother. Ever since the end of the quincy invasion, the Seireitei was in desperate need of shinigami because so many had died in combat. As a result, the new captain commander thought it would be a good idea to train the Kurosaki sisters in the shinigami arts to see if they had even a fraction of their brother's potential.

Therefore, ever since he first got to the world of the living, Hitsugaya had been training the Kurosaki sisters with the help of his vice-captain. They soon found out that Karin had much more potential than her sister, so they decided to focus their attention on her rather than on her sister.

Karin had really grown to love their daily training sessions. She loved learning new techniques and fighting moves. There was just always something new and fun to learn. Karin loved pushing and surpassing her previous limits. She felt a strong sense of pride whenever her teachers would announce that she had master a technique well enough to be able to move on to another, more difficult one.

Plus, she also secretly felt herself developing a crush on her white haired teacher. Since the tenth division captain and vice-captain had been going to school with her as a pretense for finding more possible substitute shinigami, Karin had pretty much been spending all her time with them ever since they had first arrived. She found herself getting along with them well. She especially got along well with the tenth division captain. The two of them had more or less become friends since he started training her. While he seemed content to maintain the relationship they currently had, Karin wanted more. She hoped that with time he would eventually return her feelings.

In any event, the white haired captain hadn't been himself since he ended their training session short a few days ago. They had been right in the middle of training when a hell butterfly appeared with a message for him. Once he heard it, he immediately announced that they were finished for the day and took off without another word.

The next time she saw him after that, he had been extremely anxious. He had gotten very fidgety and would sometimes even lose himself in thought in the middle of their training session. This was very unusual for the normally calm and level-headed captain. Worried about him, Karin had asked his vice-captain to see if she knew what was troubling him. But Matsumoto would only smirked in response while saying that the younger Kurosaki shouldn't worry too much about it.

While Matsumoto had told her to not worry about the matter, Karin still did anyway. It especially didn't help that her white haired friend was getting more and more anxious as the days flew by. In fact, she had even heard him muttering to himself every now and again. He would keep repeating _four more days, four more days_ one day, and then the next day it would be _three more days, three more days_ and so on and so forth. Karin desperately wanted to know what he was counting down to, but he would always say it was nothing whenever she would ask him what was bothering him. However, his actions betrayed his words. She _knew_ something was bothering him, somthing _big_ , regardless of what he said.

And today was no different. It wasn't even noon yet and Hitsugaya already seemed desperate to leave. His behaviour was much worse than it had been the day before. For the last hour or so, he had been staring out the window while anxiously tapping his desk with his finger. He would simply ignore the annoyed looks he was getting for disturbing the quiet environment of the classroom and would continue to gaze out the window.

Since Karin was sitting in the desk next to him, she couldn't bring herself to pay attention to the lecture while Hitsugaya was behaving in such a way. She would keep shooting him looks in the hopes of catching his eye, but it didn't work. Hitsugaya never once looked her way.

"One more day…" she heard him mutter as his gaze focused on something in the distance. "Just one more day…"

Karin frowned. She was really starting to get sick of his constant fidgeting. She then tried once again to focus her attention on the teacher's lecture, but failed miserably. So, she decided to just give up as she resumed her attention on Hitsugaya. After all, she could always just get the lecture notes from one of her friends later.

Ordinarily, she never would have so boldly stared at the tenth division captain. However, she knew his attention lied with whatever was on his mind, so there was no way he would notice her staring at him. While a part of her wished that he would just turn around and truly look at _her_ , she knew deep down that he wouldn't. As much as Karin tried to deny it, she knew that whatever was on his mind was more important to him than she currently was. But that was alright. As long as it was some _thing_ and not some _one_ , there was nothing to worry about.

As though to break her from her thoughts, a large amount of spiritual pressure could suddenly be felt coming from the distance. Yet, it only lasted for a moment since it shortly disappeared nearly as abruptly as it appeared. Just as she was about to ask whether or not he had also felt it, Hitsugaya suddenly stood up.

Karin heard him mutter a single word to himself as the entire class turned to him with annoyed expressions on their faces. The tenth division captain then made his way towards the classroom door without any regard for the lecture currently taking place.

"Oi, Hitsugaya-san, now where on earth do you think you're going!?" the teacher angrily yelled as he stormed off towards Hitsugaya and out his hand on his shoulder. "We are currently in class! I may have ignored your misconduct in the past few days, but this is going too-"

The teacher was suddenly interrupted by the menacing aura erupting from the tenth division captain. Although the teacher couldn't sense spiritual pressure, his instincts were screaming at him at him to let go of his student and get as far away from him as he possibly could.

"Let go of me…" Hitsugaya growled as his spiritual pressure intensified. The teacher immediately obeyed and let go of the tenth division captain's shoulder. Without another word, Hitsugaya left the room.

Meanwhile, Karin sat frozen in shock as she stared at the place her white haired friend had been just a second before. She had never seen him so... so _desperate_ before. The only clue she had to his sudden outburst was what he had muttered just before he left the room. All she had was a single name to go off of.

"Who's _Hinamori_ …?" she whispered to herself in disbelief. Little did she know, a certain voluptuous vice-captain was smirking to herself behind her.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Once Hitsugaya managed to exit the classroom, it didn't take him very long to make his way out of the school. Even as he made his way towards the source of the sudden outburst of spiritual pressure, he still just couldn't believe it. She had told him that she was only coming _tomorrow_ , not _today_. Had he known that she would be coming a day early, he never would have bothered to attend class that morning. Sure, he was suppose to as part of his mission, but he highly doubted missing one day would have made that much of a difference. Besides, being the first person to greet her once she finally arrived was much more important to him.

Hitsugaya pace got quicker and quicker in anticipation as he got closer to his destination. After all this time apart, he would finally be able to see her again. Sure, it had only been a couple of months, but he hated being apart from her. And while he had been able to manage distance being them alright in the past, he just couldn't stand the thought of leaving her alone after what Aizen had done to her. A voice in the back of his mind kept whispering that someone else might try to hurt her like _he_ did and then-

Hitsugaya shook the thought from his head as he quickly made his way down the streets of Karakura town. That didn't matter right now. All that mattered right now was that she was here and waiting to him. So he turned a corner and took a shortcut towards Urahara's shop.

Once he had reached his destination, the tenth division captain burst through the door panting. He instinctively looked around the room for signs of his childhood friend, but couldn't see her anywhere. Figuring that she must be in one of the backrooms, Hitsugaya made his way towards the back of the shop.

"Oh, Hitsugaya-taichou. Fancy seeing you here" a mischievous voice spoke from somewhere to Hitsugaya's right. The tenth division captain halted his advance towards the back of the room and turned to see who had spoken.

Urahara emerged from being a stack of boxes with a knowing smirk on his face. That smirk told the young captain that despite what was said, the shop owner was not at all surprised to see him there.

Hitsugaya remained silent for a moment as he tried to regain his composure after his sudden dramatic entrance into the shop. While he knew that he didn't do a very good job at hiding his affections for the fifth division vice-captain, he still tried to maintain his icy demeanor when others would question him about it.

"Oh, Urahara. I'm just here for-" the tenth division captain began but was immediately interrupted by the shop owner.

"Hinamori-san is just in the other room getting her gigai ready. She should be out any minute now" Urahara stated as he watched the baffled young captain try to maintain his indifferent demeanor once more. The shop owner found it rather amusing that the tenth division captain kept trying to maintain a calm and icy aura when it was obvious that he had ran straight here the second he felt the fifth division vice-captain's spiritual pressure.

Before Hitsugaya had a chance to muster a reply, Hinamori entered the room through one of the back doors. She was wearing a light blue sundress that had a dark blue flower pattern towards the bottom of it. It looked as though she was about to say something to the shop owner when she spotted her childhood friend in the middle of the shop.

"Oh, Hitsugaya-kun!" she exclaimed as her surprised expression turned into a bright smile. "I thought you would be in class right now with Rangiku-san."

"Well, um…" Hitsugaya fumbled as he tried to think of a logical reason for why he was currently here and not in class. "I felt a sudden burst of spiritual pressure in this area and thought I should check it out…"

Hitsugaya felt like facepalming himself when he saw Hinamori's bright expression turn to confusion at his response. As a captain and as her childhood friend, he should have been well aware that it was _her_ spiritual pressure that he was sensing. God, he felt like such an idiot. Before he had a chance to redeem himself, Urahara interrupted their conversation.

"I think what the poor captain is trying to say," he began as he saw the two shinigami turn their heads to face him "is that he felt _your_ spiritual pressure and rushed all the way over here just to see you because he _missed you_."

Hitsugaya turned red in response. As he was about to muster a reply to the shop owner's claim, he felt a pair of arms embrace him from the side. Turning his head to the side, the tenth division captain saw his childhood friend burying her head in his chest.

"Aww, Shiro-chan" she began as she lifted her to gaze to her childhood friend. "I missed you too!" she exclaimed as a warm smile covered her face.

The tenth division captain's blush deepened. Not trusting himself with words, Hitsugaya remained silent as he turned his head to the other side in an attempt to hide his reddened cheeks.

After about a moment had passed, Hinamori released her childhood friend as she stood to face him. "While I am happy that you came all the way here to see me, Hitsugaya-kun, you really should be getting back to class. It's not right to skip, you know" she said as she attempted to scold her childhood friend.

Hitsugaya sighed. "It's not like it really matters, anyway. I'm not here to attend human school, I'm here to search for and train new substitute shinigami." he replied as he looked to his now pouting friend. "Besides, you're only here for a day, and it's not like missing one day of classes will really make that much of a difference. So there's no need to give me that look, Hinamori."

"But Hitsugaya-kun!" she whined in response. "It's just not right to skip! Even if you're not here as a real student, you really should attend class! Plus, you get to learn a bunch of things there that we never got the chance to learn at the shinigami academy!"

"Trust me, it's really not as interesting as you're making it out to be" the tenth division captain stated as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Please, Hitsugaya-kun…" the fifth division vice-captain pleaded as she gazed deeply into the eyes of her childhood friend. "I would feel bad if you skipped class because of me…"

"Fine" he sighed as he gave into Hinamori's pleas. "I'll go back. Classes are done at four anyway, so it's only a couple more hours." The fifth division vice-captain instantly perked up at his response.

"Great!" she replied as the smile returned to her face. "In the meantime, I'll try to think up some things that we could do once you get out!"

"There's no need" he abruptly responded. Seeing the smile start to fade on her face, he quickly added "I already have something in mind."

"Alright!" Hinamori happily replied as Hitsugaya began to make his way out of the shop. "I guess I'll see you after class, Hitsugaya-kun!"

"Oi, it's Hitsugaya-taichou to you" he stated as he stopped and faced her once more before finally exiting the shop.

* * *

"Oh, Taichou. You're back." Matsumoto stated in surprise as her captain joined her and Karin on the school rooftop for lunch. Knowing exactly _who_ her captain had taken off in such a hurry to go see, she had expected him to simply skip the remainder of today's classes. So she was quite surprised to see him come back to school half way through their lunch break.

"Yeah, I'm back" he replied with an annoyed expression on his face. It was clear, even to Karin, that he really hadn't intended on coming back after his sudden exit an hour ago.

"Let me guess," Matsumoto began as a smirk made its way onto her face "Hinamori felt bad about you skipping class to go see her, so she made you come back."

Judging by her captain's lack of response, the tenth division vice-captain knew she had hit the nail on the head. Satisfied that she had guessed correctly, Matsumoto quietly continued to eat her sandwich with a smug expression on her face.

Meanwhile, Karin frowned at their exchange. _So this Hinamori is a she_ the young girl thought as she gazed at her white haired friend _Just who the hell is she, anyway? And, more importantly, who is she to Toshiro?_

* * *

 **And there you have it, chapter 2!**

 **There'll be a lot more HitsuHina interactions in the next chapter, so please look forward to it!**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading/favouriting/reviewing!**

 **~ H-Mira**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

The rest of that afternoon went by painfully slow for the tenth division captain. Minutes felt like hours, and he was getting restless. Hinamori was finally here, and yet he was stuck in a boring human classroom.

Hitsugaya didn't even bother to pretend to pay attention to the current lecture as he looked out the window. Sure, Hinamori would have been disappointed had she found out he was ignoring the lecture, but it's not like she'd ever know whether he'd listened or not. So he just kept staring out the window while he waited out the remainder of today's classes.

As the end of classes was drawing near, Karin couldn't help but feel anxious. The tenth division captain and vice-captain were supposed to train her after school just like they would any other day, but she had a nagging feeling that her white haired friend wouldn't be joining them today. And the thought of him spending the evening with an unknown girl made Karin feel uneasy.

Karin desperately tried to reason with herself that there was no need to worry. After all, it was quite possible that this girl could be a family member who just wanted to visit him. _Yeah!_ Karin thought as she tried to cheer herself up _This girl could totally be a sister or a cousin or something! I mean, after all, Toshiro's pretty cold towards pretty much everyone. So there's no way he has girlfriend. Besides, he'd probably scare off any girl that even got near him!_

The school bell rang to signal the end of classes just as Karin was broken free from her thoughts. She turned her head around to face her white haired friend only to find him no longer sitting next to her. The young Kurosaki frowned for a second before turning her head to face the door. Out of the corner of her eye, she managed to catch a head of white hair exiting the room in a hurry. _Damn, he's fast_ she thought as she desperately stood up and tried to catch up with him.

"Hey, Toshiro! Wait up!" Karin called as she ran down the school hallway after the tenth division captain. However, he just kept storming his way towards the exit of the building, his mind too preoccupied at the moment to register the young Kurosaki's pleas.

Annoyed at being ignored, Karin sprinted towards her white haired friend. "I said wait up!" she yelled as she grabbed Hitsugaya's shoulder. The young captain stopped once he felt the hand on his shoulder and turned his head slowly to look at the girl behind him.

"What do you want, Kurosaki?" he growled as he began to glare at her. Karin was taken aback at his tone. Sure, he wasn't always exactly friendly with her, but he had never been angry at her before, let alone angry enough to _glare_ at her.

Karin gulped. She was starting to regret her previous decision to follow him. But she was already in this deep, so she decided that she may as well see it through. "Hey, um, Toshiro," she began as she removed her hand from his shoulder "I was just wondering what kind of training exercises we were going to do today. We've been doing a lot of kido lately, so I was thinking maybe we could work on something else today. I've really been wanting to try out my zanpakuto, and-"

"I won't be training you today. If you have anything you want to work on, let Matsumoto know" he interrupted as he started to walk away once more. He hadn't even bothered to give Karin enough time to register what he said before he took off back down the hallway.

Karin stood frozen for a second as she tried to process what Hitsugaya had just told her. While a part of her had a feeling he would skip out on today's training, she felt disappointed. After she took another second to regain her composure, Karin took off running after her white haired friend.

"Oh come on, Toshiro!" Karin yelled as she tried to catch up to him once more "Don't be like that! Besides, isn't it part of your _mission_ to train me?"

"It's part of my _and Matsumoto's_ mission to train you." the tenth division captain corrected as he continued to make his way towards the outside of the building, not once looking back at her as he spoke. "She'll be just fine training you by herself for one day."

Karin frowned once again as she ran after Hitsugaya. "Come on, Toshiro! That's not fair-"

She was cut off by the sight in front of her. She and Hitsugaya had finally managed to make it outside, only to find a crowd of student's surrounding the school entrance. While a part of her was curious as to why there were so many students huddled around there, she was nevertheless thankful for the opportunity it gave her to catch up to the tenth division captain.

As she got closer to him, Karin could tell he wasn't nearly as happy about the human barricade as she was. After cursing under his breath, Hitsugaya continued to make his way towards the school entrance. As much as he would have liked to simply flash stepped out of the school grounds, there were far too many witnesses for him to make it out without causing a scene. Therefore, as much as he hated it, he angrily walked towards the entrance as he braced himself for the crowd. Karin, seeing her friend continue on his way to the outside of the school grounds, was quick to follow after him.

Once they were closer to the entrance, they could hear the other students whispering to themselves. The closer the two of them got, the more clear their whispers became.

"Wow, who's _she_?" one student whispered to his friend.

"Dunno, but she's pretty cute!" another student replied as he motioned for another one of his friend's to take a lot towards the school entrance.

"You can say that again!" a third student exclaimed.

"Hey, guys! I think she's waiting for someone!" a fourth student said.

Curious as to who was causing such a commotion, Karin turned her head towards the source of the crowd. There, leaning against one of the pillars that marked the entrance to the school, stood a raven haired girl in a light blue sundress. The girl had a slight smile on her face as she looked in the crowd for whoever she was waiting for. Even though they were still a few meters aparts, the young Kurosaki could still tell just how beautiful this girl was.

Almost as though she sensed Karin gaze, the raven haired girl turned to look at her. Once her gaze had reached Karin's direction, her eyes widened. Then, the girl burst out into a bright smile as she happily made her way towards the young Kurosaki.

Karin was shocked. She had no idea who this girl was or why she was heading towards her. As she stood frozen in place staring at the raven haired girl, the girl got closer and closer.

"There you are!" the girl exclaimed once she had gotten close enough. "I was looking for you everywhere, Hitsugaya-kun! I was so worried I wouldn't be able to find you in this crowd!" She then laughed a bit to herself before adding "Luckily for me though, you tend to stick out."

Karin's eyes widened. So the girl hadn't been approaching her, she had been approaching _him_. As Karin thoughts began to run wild with theories of who this girl could be, Hitsugaya spoke.

"Like you're one to talk, _Hinamori._ You're the reason why this crowd's even here in the first place, you know" he said in a scolding type manner, yet Karin noticed a faint smile escaping his lips which contradicted his words.

Karin stood once again in shock as she looked to the tenth division captain. She had never, _ever_ , seen him smile. Hell, a part of her thought he was even incapable of smiling in the first place! Yet, here he was, finally gracing the world with one of his smiles…. And it wasn't even directed at her.

Oblivious to the young Kurosaki's shocked expression, the two continued their conversation as though she wasn't even there.

"I am?" the girl named Hinamori questioned as she looked around at the faces in the crowd. Seeing them all facing her current direction, she let out a small laugh. "I guess you're right."

"Of course I am" Hitsugaya replied as a tiny smirk made its way onto his face. Looking out into the crowd himself, he noticed the other students' expressions turn from curiosity to shock as they saw the two of them engaging with one another. This simply made his smirk grow even bigger.

Finally gathering up the courage to speak, Karin interrupted their conversation. "Um, Toshiro, who's this?" she asked as the two standing next to her finally seemed to notice her presence.

Hinamori's eyes widened slightly at the question. Truth be told, she hadn't even noticed the girl until she had spoken just now. Plus, this girl had just called her childhood friend _Toshiro_. He didn't allowed anyone other than their grandmother to call him that.

Meanwhile, Hitsugaya's smirk disappeared as turned his head to face Karin. "This is Hinamori Momo, vice-captain of the fifth division and a childhood friend of mine." he stated as he answered the young Kurosaki's question.

"Oh, I see…" Karin muttered in response. She couldn't help but feel a slight pain in her chest when she heard that the two weren't relatives as she had initially hoped. Sure, he hadn't said that they were dating or anything, but she still felt slightly crushed at the notion that this girl could be a potential rival love interest.

"Shiro-chan, who's this? Is she a friend of yours?" Hinamori questioned as she eyed the girl next to her. She had never seen this girl before, though the girl did have a familiar looking face.

Karin's eyes widened once again. _Shiro-chan?_ she thought in disbelief as she looked to her white haired friend _Toshiro let's her call him Shiro-chan?_

Meanwhile, Hitsugaya answered his childhood friend's question. "Oh, this is Kurosaki Karin. She's Kurosaki Ichigo's younger sister. Matsumoto and I are training her as a substitute shinigami." Hitsugaya replied as he addressed his childhood friend once more. Since it had been so long since he had last seen her, he decided to let the _Shiro-chan_ slide just this one time.

"Oh! You're Kurosaki-san's younger sister! That's why you look familiar!" Hinamori exclaimed as she smiled at a surprised Karin. Hearing that this girl was Kurosaki's younger sister, Hinamori couldn't help but internally let out a sigh of relief. She had heard that the Kurosaki's didn't always address people by their proper title and it seemed like Karin was no exception. _If I remember correctly, I think Kurosaki-san calls Hitsugaya-kun by his first name too_ she thought to herself.

"Um, yeah, I guess that's why I look familiar…" Karin managed in response to the smiling girl next to her. _Is it just me or does she seem relieved that I'm Ichi-nii's younger sister?_ she thought as she looked at the smiling vice-captain.

"Anyway, let's get out of here, Hinamori." Hitsugaya stated as he started to leave the school grounds. Once he had taken a few steps, he stopped and turned around slightly to see if his childhood friend was following him.

"Alright!" Hinamori called out as she began to follow the tenth division captain. Almost as an afterthought, she stopped and addressed Karin once more. "It was nice meeting you, Kurosaki-san" she said with a slight smile on her face.

"Uh, nice meeting you too…" Karin replied awkwardly. Hinamori simply nodded once in response before turning around and joining her friend who was waiting for her.

* * *

As the two childhood friends walked down the block and out of sight, Karin frowned. Although Hinamori seemed really nice, the young Kurosaki couldn't help but feel uneasy at the idea of her and Hitsugaya spending the afternoon alone together.

Almost as though they had read her thoughts, a voice suddenly spoke. "So, Karin, did you want to skip today's training session and follow Taichou and Hinamori instead?"

Karin nearly jumped out of her skin as Matsumoto spoke. She had no idea where the tenth division vice-captain had come from. "Oh, Rangiku. I didn't see you there" she said as she attempted to regain her composure.

"Yeah, yeah, it's me" Matsumoto replied. "Anyway, did you want to?"

"Did I want to what?" Karin questioned. Truth be told, the poor girl was too startled to have understood what the vice-captain had asked her earlier.

"Did you want to skip training and follow Taichou and Hinamori?" she repeated as a smug smile made its way onto her face. "Come on now, I know I'm not the only one who wants to follow them!"

Karin grumbled in response. On one hand, it was an invasion of privacy to follow them. But on the other… Karin gulped.

"Fine. Let's follow them" she replied before Matsumoto excitedly took her hand.

"Great, now let's hurry up before we lose them!" the tenth division vice-captain exclaimed as she dragged the young Kurosaki down the block.

* * *

 **And there you have it, chapter three!**

 **I'll probably finish off this fanfic in the next chapter, so you better look forward to it!**

 **Anyway, thanks for reading, favouriting and reviewing!**

 **~ H-Mira**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

"Oh look, there they are!" Matsumoto exclaimed as she pointed towards the tenth division captain and his childhood friend. She and Karin had been trying to catch up to the two of them for the last few blocks. At last, after about fifteen minutes of trying to find them, Matsumoto had finally managed to spot them going into one of the shops downtown.

"Come on, Karin!" the tenth division vice-captain urged as she dragged her companion towards the shop. "We can't lose sight of them again!"

"Hey, Rangiku, hold on!" Karin pleaded as she tried to fight back against being dragged by the older woman. "If we go in the shop, they'll see us!"

"Oh, you're right" Matsumoto replied as she stopped her advance towards the shop. "Let's just look in from the window then!" Karin merely nodded in response as the two of them hide just outside of the shop and looked in through the window.

It turns out it really was a good decision not to go in. The shop was pretty much deserted except for the two childhood friends and the few employees present. Had Karin and Matsumoto gone in, they would have been spotted right away.

As they looked into the shop, they noticed Hinamori eagerly looking around the clothing store as Hitsugaya merely followed her. However, the young captain didn't look annoyed at being dragged along shopping. In fact, he had a slight smile on his face as he watched his companion excitedly look around the shop.

"Wow, there's so many things here…" Hinamori whispered to herself in awe as she looked around the shop.

"Go try something on then" Hitsugaya stated as his childhood friend turn away from the merchandise to look at him. "You obviously want to try something on, so you might as well."

"Are you sure?" she questioned as she tilted her head slightly to the side. "I know this isn't your kind of store, Hitsugaya-kun. Did you want to just leave?"

"Nah, it's fine. Go for it" he replied as a gentle smile began to make its way onto his face. Hinamori nodded in response before turning her attention once again towards the store merchandise.

Once it seemed that the fifth division vice-captain had decided on a few articles of clothing to try on, she made her way towards the fitting room. Hitsugaya decided to wait outside for her while she changed.

With every outfit that she tried on, Hinamori would cheerfully come out of her fitting room and ask her childhood friend what he thought of her clothes. And with every outfit he saw, Hitsugaya would offer the same response: he would just faintly smile at her and say that it looked good. If the fifth division vice-captain noticed his repeated response, she didn't give any sign of it. She would simply smile at him again before going back into her fitting to try on another outfit.

"Alright, I think that was all of them!" Hinamori announced as she stepped out of the fitting and went to put the clothes she tried on back where she found them. "It was really fun trying on this type of clothing! Thanks for waiting for me, Hitsugaya-kun."

"Don't worry about it. It's not like we were in here that long anyway" he replied with a shrug. Truth be told, they had been in there for nearly an hour. Had he been with anyone else, Hitsugaya wouldn't have lasted ten minutes in the store, let alone an hour. So it seemed like Hinamori was, once again, the exception to every rule.

"Oh, you have such a nice _boyfriend_!" cooed one of the sales associates as she addressed Hinamori. "I hope I can find one just like him someday!"

The fifth division vice-captain turned red at the comment. Just as she was about to correct the employee, Hitsugaya interrupted her.

"Thanks" he abruptly said before turning his gaze back towards Hinamori and grabbing her hand. "Anyway, we should get going, Hinamori. I don't know about you, but I'm starting to get hungry."

All Hinamori could manage in response was a quick nod. Getting the confirmation that he needed, Hitsugaya began to walk out of the store with Hinamori right behind him.

Seeing the two childhood friends walking hand in hand towards them, Karin and Matsumoto immediately hid on the side of the building in the hopes of not being seen. Fortunately, Hitsugaya was too focused on his next destination and Hinamori was too focused on him. So the Karin and Matsumoto managed to avoid detection.

"Um, Hitsugaya-kun," Hinamori began as she shyly looked upon her childhood friend's face. "Why didn't you correct her?"

The tenth division captain stopped walking for a moment and faced her. "Well, it's not like we're ever gonna see her again," he replied with a shrug. "So there wasn't really a point in correcting her, you know?"

"Ah, that makes sense" Hinamori said in response. He was right after all, it's not like there was much of a point in correcting her, so why bother? She shook her head slightly, of course that was the reason why he didn't correct her. Really, what other answer could there been expecting?

Hearing this exchange between the two, Karin was internally fuming. _That's bullshit, Toshiro!_ She angrily thought to herself _You always correct people when they mistake us for a couple! Every. Single. Time. So what's with this attempt at "playing it cool" and not correcting them!? You're so full of bullshit, Toshiro!_

Ignorant of the fuming teenager hiding around the corner, the fifth division vice-captain decided to continue her conversation with her childhood friend. "Anyway, did you have a spot in mind to eat at?"

"Well, I have a few ideas." he replied. "I've heard of a few good places around here. There's…"

Karin tuned out the rest of their conversation. She felt a tight pain in her chest as she heard the two of them start to make plans for supper. As she looked at the two of them happily chatting with one another, that pain in her chest worsened. _It really does look like they're on a date_ she thought as watched the two of them.

"I'm heading home" Karin abruptly announced to the tenth division vice-captain as she began to walk away from their hiding spot. They hadn't even been watching the two childhood friends for an hour, but it was already starting to get too painful for Karin. It was just too hard for Karin to watch Hitsugaya smile so easily for Hinamori when he would never smile for her.

Having an idea of what was going through the young Kurosaki's mind, Matsumoto nodded. "Alright, see you tomorrow then" she said as she watched Karin walk away in the opposite direction of her superior and his childhood friend. Once the young girl was out of sight, the tenth division vice-captain returned her attention to Hinamori and Hitsugaya, who were now making their way towards one of the many restaurants in the area.

* * *

Karin sighed as she walked along the trail of one of the parks nearby her house. Despite what she had said earlier to Matsumoto, Karin knew she was in no shape to go home right now. So she decided to walk aimlessly around the park until she got her emotions back under control.

Soon enough, she found herself walking towards the spot where she first met Hitsugaya all those years ago. She smiled slightly to herself once she realized where her feet were taking her. _Man, that feels like a lifetime ago now_ she thought as she recalled the times when she would pester him about playing on her soccer team. _Things really were a lot simpler when I didn't know Hinamori existed…_

She sighed once again as she neared the hill that would soon reveal the spot where she had met him for the first time so many years ago. She was really starting to regret her earlier decision to follow the two childhood friends after school. Had she not watched the two of them interact up close, she could have continued to fool herself into thinking she had a chance.

As she turned the corner of the hill, a head of white hair broke her from her thoughts. There was Hitsugaya, sitting in that same spot as he watched sunset. _He's here…_ she thought to herself as she stood frozen in place, too mesmerized by the sight in front of her to move. _He's really here._

That's when an idea entered Karin's mind. Maybe she had just misunderstood the situation. Maybe Hinamori really was _just_ a childhood friend. Maybe, just maybe, Hitsugaya had decided to come to _their_ spot to show her that it was really _her_ that he cared about.

 _That has to be it!_ she thought as a surge of happiness swiftly made its way through her. _I mean, why else would he be waiting at our spot?!_ Karin then felt the sudden urge to call out to him.

"Hey, Toshi-" she yelled but was abruptly interrupted as a hand swiftly covered her mouth and pulled her back behind the hill and out of sight. Karin started to panic as she tried to fight off the unknown person restraining her. This person had to be pretty strong, since they were easily holding her at bay.

"Shh, Karin, calm down. It's me" the assailant whispered in her ear. Recognizing the voice of the tenth division vice-captain, Karin relaxed. Once Matsumoto noticed that the young Kurosaki's sudden movements had stopped, she decided to carefully release her.

"What was that for?!" Karin angrily asked as she glared at the older woman. "I was only about to say hi to Toshiro, so what's the big deal?!"

"Would you keep your voice down!?" Matsumoto urgently whispered as she returned Karin's glare. "They'll hear us if you keep talking so loud!"

 _They?_ Karin thought to herself. _But isn't it just Toshiro there?_ In an attempt to answer her own question, Karin cautiously stuck her head out from behind the hill. Sure enough, there was Hitsugaya, peacefully watching the sunset. Just as she was about to turn around to correct the vice-captain next to her, she caught sight of a head of raven coloured hair.

Karin's eyes widened as she further examined the sight in front of her. Now that she was looking more closely, she noticed that Hinamori and Hitsugaya were quietly sitting next to each as they took in the sunset.

"No…" Karin muttered to herself as her eyes stayed glued on the scene playing out in front of her. "That's our spot… What is _she_ doing there…?"

Noticing the young Kurosaki's expression, Matsumoto offered a sympathetic smile. "Are you sure it was even your spot in the first place?" she gently asked as she carefully watched the girl next to her.

Just as Karin was about to reply that of course it was their spot, a sudden memory stopped her. She recalled that night, all those years ago, when she asked the tenth division captain _why_ he kept coming here.

" _I come here because it has the best view of the sky…" he replied as he looked longingly into the distance. After pausing for a moment, almost as though he was just reliving some sort of memory, he finally added "... It brings back memories."_

Karin's eyes widened once again. _Memories…_ she thought to herself as she was starting to piece things together. _It brought back memories of her… That's why he kept coming here… Not because of me… But because of her..._

A single tear was now making its way down Karin's cheek. "No…" she muttered as her eyes stayed glued on the two childhood friends. "No… That can't be…"

"Shh, it's okay" Matsumoto whispered as she pulled the young girl into a motherly hug behind the hill. "Just let it all out…"

And Karin did exactly as she was told. Sure, she didn't want to cry in front of the tenth division vice-captain, but all she could manage to do was muffle her whimpers as she cried quietly into the chest of the older woman. It was true, she really just needed to let it all out.

"This isn't fair…" Karin muttered to herself. "For the last few months, _I've_ been the one who's been here. Not her... So why… Why is it still _her_!?"

"That's because it'll _always_ be her, Karin." Matsumoto gently replied as she held the heartbroken girl tighter. "For as long as I've known him, it's always been her. It just doesn't matter what happens or how far apart they are, Taichou will still continue chose her over and over again. Even in the times when people think he's crazy for doing so, he'll still chose her over anything else."

Matsumoto paused for a second as she allowed Karin to process what she had just told her before continuing. "And when I say that he'd chose her above anything else, I do mean _anything_. Hell, he even said that he'd throw away his captaincy if it meant that he could avenge her! And let me tell you, not many other captains, if _any_ , would be willing to go that far for someone."

The tenth division vice-captain then smiled to herself. "He really is one devoted kid" she said as she recalled all the times her captain would worry about the wellbeing of his childhood friend. She then shook her head as she separated herself from her memories and focused her attention on Karin once more.

"Anyway, I guess my point is" Matsumoto continued as Karin was beginning to compose herself once again. "For Taichou, it'll always be Hinamori. It always has been, and it always will be."

"Yeah… I just noticed" Karin replied as she tried to regain some of her sense of humour. Feeling satisfied that the last of her tears had already fallen, she removed herself from Matsumoto's embrace.

"Well, I guess that's that then" Karin added as she faced the tenth division vice-captain. "No point in crying over spilled milk." She then began to walk back down the path that she had originally come from. "I'm gonna head on home now. Later, Rangiku."

"Hey, are you sure you're okay, Karin?" Matsumoto called out after the young Kurosaki girl.

Without turning around, Karin spoke. "Yeah, I'll be fine. It was just a stupid crush, anyway. It's not like I was in _love_ with the guy or anything" she said as she waved her right hand back at Matsumoto. "So don't worry about it. There are better guys out there than him, after all. I'll be fine."

"...Alright, if you say so" the tenth division vice-captain muttered as she watched the young girl walk off into the distance. While she was still worried about Karin, Matsumoto knew better than to meddle in matters that were better left alone. Sighing, she turned around only to come face to face with her captain and Hinamori.

 _Damnit!_ She thought as she internally winced. She prayed her captain hadn't been listening to the conversation she was just having with the younger Kurosaki sibling.

"Matsumoto, what are you doing here?" Hitsugaya asked as he looked questioningly at his vice-captain.

Matsumoto sighed in relief, thankful for Karin's sake that her captain hadn't been listening to their earlier conversation. "Oh nothing, Taichou. I was just walking around when I ended up here."

"Yeah right. I bet you ditched Kurosaki's training today to follow Hinamori and me around town." he bluntly replied as he crossed his arms over his chest and began to glare at her.

"You don't know that for sure, Hitsugaya-kun" Hinamori added in an attempt to calm down her childhood friend. "She really could have just ended up here!"

 _Oh, Hinamori, you actually believed that_ Matsumoto thought as she looked down at the fifth division vice-captain. _You really are too sweet._

Unfortunately for Matsumoto, her captain wasn't nearly as sweet or trusting. "Matsumoto, no more sake for the next three weeks" he said as Matsumoto's expression turned into a look of pure terror.

"No!" She pleaded to her superior. But just as always, he was a man of his word.

* * *

Meanwhile, Karin was slowly but surely making her way home. _I'm sorry for lying to you Matsumoto_ she thought as she stared down at her feet. _I'm not okay. And I probably won't be for a while. But I'll get through it, just as I've gotten through everything else._

Karin then lifted her gaze to the sky as a sad smile made its way onto her face. _Yes, I'll get through this. I know I will_ she thought as she watched the clouds go by over her head.

"Goodbye, Toshiro" she whispered to the darkening sky.

 **The End**

* * *

 **There you have it, the conclusion of _It'll Always be Her_!**

 **I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!**

 **Truth be told, I hadn't originally planned on making this story so sad from Karin's point of view. But once the words kind of just came out of me, I knew I just had to roll with it.**

 **I also really enjoyed reading all the reviews I've gotten on this story. You guys are really too kind!**

 **Anyway, please leave a review to let me know what you thought of this story as a whole!**

 **~ H-Mira**


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